Another new owner of a VN 12

Cal Haines said:

The table right end brackets seem to get broken on the majority of No. 12s. I bet it's because the table is power fed to the left, running the bracket into the saddle. I note that both the permanaent and moveable stops on the right side of your table are missing. I don't know why so many of them get taken off. You'll want to replace them before you use the power feed.

Have a look at the teeth on the ring gear and see if there is obvious wear on the teeth.

Cal

Click to expand...

The teeth look good, the stops I pulled off during the remove and quick cleaning. Thanks for the tips. I've been digging up information on these vn12s and your name always pops up with great info. thanks for posting all that too. lol...

Cal Haines said:

The table right end brackets seem to get broken on the majority of No. 12s. I bet it's because the table is power fed to the left, running the bracket into the saddle. I note that both the permanaent and moveable stops on the right side of your table are missing. I don't know why so many of them get taken off. You'll want to replace them before you use the power feed.

Have a look at the teeth on the ring gear and see if there is obvious wear on the teeth.

Cal

Click to expand...

All the rights are broken - I think the later models beefed up the brackets.
We should copy the '50's brackets, make castings and use them.

Nelson

Wilde's machine is between 1943-1944.



1937 5087-
1938 5192-
1939 5265-
1940 5443-
1941 5903-
1942 6627-
1943 7652-
1944 8061-
1945 8507-
1946 8761-
1947 8911-
1948 8988-
1949 9082-
1950 9184-
1951 9352-
1952 9703-
1953 9954-
1954 9996-
1955 10024

Wilde- Thanks for posting pics! It's really motivating. Pictures can be deceiving, but your mill looks to be in really good mechanical condition!. The ways look great, and so do the gears.

Never did like that leadscrew bracket. Way too delicate for an otherwise solid machine.

What gives on the lockwire through the bolts in the cutterhead? I've never seen that arrangement before (other than in these mills)....I assume it keeps the bolts from backing out. The entire assembly looks like it adjusts the meshing of the ring/pinion gears.

Lawyer said:

All the rights are broken - I think the later models beefed up the brackets.
We should copy the '50's brackets, make castings and use them.

Nelson

Click to expand...

I don't think so. I worked on a No. 12 that's within a few hundred serial numbers of the end of production and it has the same bracket (also broken). The bracket on a No. 16, which is the direct descendant of the No. 12, is much beefier. But I maintain my position that the broken brackets are a result of operator error using the power feed; probably some idiot operator trying to finish a long cut takes the permanent feed stop off and boom. A heavier bracket would probably result in something more critical getting damaged in a crash. As long as the permanent feed stop is in place and the feed mechanism is working properly the table won't crash and the bracket will be just fine.

I have a friend up in Canada who's going to make a pattern so that we could cast some new brackets. I have no idea when/if he'll get to it.

ScubaSteve said:

...
What gives on the lockwire through the bolts in the cutterhead? I've never seen that arrangement before (other than in these mills)....I assume it keeps the bolts from backing out. The entire assembly looks like it adjusts the meshing of the ring/pinion gears.

Click to expand...

That's correct. And on the ball-bearing gearbox machines the output shaft could be moved in and out to further adjust the mesh. If at all possible you want to leave thhose adjustments alone. You do need to keep and eye on the ring gear and should verify that everything is tight every time you change the cutter-head oil.

Van Norman made multiple changes to the cutter-head, mostly having to do with how the ring gear adjustment was maintained. So I think it's safe to conclude that this was a source of problems with the machine.

Cal

A little update, I couldn't wait for the oil I had ordered. So I hooked up the vfd and ran the spindle and the table both work! The dro should be here today so I can mount that as well as the vfd, replace the sight glasses and lube, then I should be milling stuff.






Edit: videos added...

SWEEEEEEETTTTT!!!!!!!!

Well I removed all the wiring and boxes then started mounting the DRO and scales....










I received my shipment of mobil heavy medium oil early so I removed my broken sight glass and replaced it with a incandescent flashlight lens. Hopefully it will stand up to the heat...

I sooooo want to chip that paint off! Heck, I don't think you'd have much trouble getting that mill to bare metal.....you're almost there!